A public inquiry has revealed that British special forces executed Afghan boys "younger than 16" during operations in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013. The charges are based on redacted testimonies from former soldiers and are part of an investigation into alleged extrajudicial killings by special forces in Helmand province.

The allegations center on the activities of a SAS unit, referred to as UKSF1 in inquiry documents, which carried out "deliberate detention operations" that, according to lawyers representing Afghan families, resulted in over 80 deaths.

Testimonies from soldiers, heard in closed sessions last year and published on the inquiry’s website, suggest that SAS units were given a "golden pass to get away with murder" in Afghanistan.

During these raids, soldiers reported that “any man capable of picking up a weapon or any very young man capable of picking up a weapon” was targeted. When asked if this included boys “as young as 16,” one soldier responded, “Or younger. One hundred percent!”

Soldier reveals weapons planted to justify killings

Another soldier admitted that weapons were sometimes placed beside the bodies of those killed to make it appear they had posed a threat. They described an incident in which “a pillow was placed over the head of someone who was then killed with a pistol.” Reflecting on this, the soldier added, “I suppose what shocked me most wasn’t the execution of potential members of the Taliban, which was of course wrong and illegal, but it was more the age and the methods and, you know, the details of things like pillows.”

An SAS commander testified that the leader of an Afghan special forces unit had accused British soldiers of the “assassination of innocents.”

Emailed testimonies also recounted instances where detained Afghans were allowed to return unguarded to compounds, only to be shot and later reported as having re-emerged with weapons such as guns or grenades.

The public inquiry uncovered that two Afghan adults, Hussain Uzbakzai and Ruqqia Mullah Muhammad Haleem, both 24 years old, were fatally shot by SAS forces in August 2012 while they were sleeping.

The couple had been resting outside in their courtyard alongside their preschool-aged children when the tragic incident occurred.

Richard Hermer KC, a barrister representing the victims’ families, argued that such incidents amounted to war crimes committed by British soldiers.

Mansour Aziz, Uzbakzai’s brother, described the devastating aftermath, recalling how he returned home to find the bodies of his brother and sister-in-law. Their children had been evacuated for emergency medical treatment.

“Even to this day, they are grieving the incident that happened to us and they are depressed. They are wondering why that incident happened to us,” Aziz said. “We are asking for the court to listen to these children and bring justice.”

The evidence and testimonies presented to the inquiry suggest the SAS may have engaged in a systematic campaign of extrajudicial killings, potentially amounting to war crimes and a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions.

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